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MELBOURNE, Australia – A good draw for Leylah Fernandez to reach the third round, in the sense that American Alycia Parks was a big server with evident skills, but who also remains pretty inconsistent. But despite a great start, Fernandez floundered a little and Parks pulls off the upset.
But Rod Laver Arena belongs to the teens – Brenda Fruhvirtova and Mirra Andreeva, who took on the stars of the game at a time in their careers when they have very little to lose. For the former, it was a lot. For the latter, it was a dismantling of a top-10 player.
And another teen, 2023 junior champion Alina Korneeva tried to take out No. 10 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia. But a late switch to the big arena, Rod Laver, might have upped the intimidation factor a tad.
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Australian Open
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Dates: Jan. 14 – 28, 2024
Prize money: $86.5 million AUD
Draws: S128 / D64
Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024
Final results
Canadian Content
Alycia Parks (USA) def [32] Leylah Fernandez (CAN) 75 64
Upsets
Mirra Andreeva (RUS) def [6] Ons Jabeur (TUN) 60 62
Elena Avanesyan (RUS) def [8] Maria Sakkari (GRE) 64 64
Magdalena Frech (POL) def [16] Caroline Garcia (FRA) 64 76 (2)
Marta Kostyuk (UKR) def [25] Elise Mertens (BEL) 57 61 76 [10-6]
Qualifiers rule
[Q] Storm Hunter (AUS) def Laura Siegemund (GER) 64 36 63
[Q] Maria Timofeeva (RUS) def [WC] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 16 64 61
[Q] Anastasia Kazharova (RUS) def Kaja Juvan (SLO) 61 61
Seeds advancing
[2] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) def. [Q] Brenda Fruhvirtova (CZE) 63 62
[4] Coco Gauff (USA) def. Caroline Dolehide (USA) 76 (2) 62
[9] Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) def. Tamara Korpatsch (GER) 62 62
[10] Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) def [Q] Alina Korneeva (RUS) 61 62
[28] Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) def Rebeka Masarova (ESP) 63 64
Other results (in alphabetical order)
[PR] Amanda Anisimova (USA) def. Nadia Podoroska (ARG) 62 63
Paula Badosa (ESP) def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 62 63
Diane Parry (FRA) def. Kamilla Rakhimova (RUS) 75 62